The US Justice Dept. appealed to the federal appellate court in New Orleans on March 1 to reverse by March 15 a Louisiana federal judge’s ruling that halts the federal government’s use of an interim calculation of the social cost of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Feb. 14 injunction by Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee,has nearly paralyzed completion of a variety of pending rules, could interrupt construction project environmental reviews and prompted the US Interior Dept. to pause oil and gas leasing on federal lands, the Biden Administration had said in a response to Cain that asked him to revoke the stay by Feb. 28.